Curve adds 1% cashback – you can double-dip with Visa and Mastercard rewards

Curve Card, the ‘all your cards [unless they are Amex] on one card’ card, has just launched its new rewards program, called Curve Cash.

As a reminder, Curve offers to consolidate your entire card portfolio into one card, letting you pay with a Curve Card and re-charging your preferred linked credit or debit card.

Key benefits of Curve Card for points collectors include:

being able to pay abroad and have the charge re-charged (in £) to your linked miles and points Visa or Mastercard, with either a 0% or a very low FX fee – far lower than the standard 3% on your underlying card

being able to withdraw £200 of cash from an ATM every 30 days and have it recharged as a PURCHASE to your linked Visa or Mastercard (unless it is a NatWest, RBS or Tesco card)

It is particularly useful in combination with rewards credit cards in situations in which retailers do not (or charge a premium to) accept credit cards but do take debit cards.  HMRC is a good example – you can pay your tax with Curve and have it recharged to your linked credit card as a purchase, earning reward points.  Last week we looked at the value of signing up for a Curve Card.

Curve Cash lets you ‘double up’ on your rewards

This new program works in addition to reward programs on your underlying cards.  This means you can ‘double dip’ on spend you push through your Curve Card.

The new scheme offers cashback at many top retailers.  You get different benefits depending on which card you hold:

Curve Blue (the free version): 1% instant cashback on up to three pre-selected retailers for 90 days.

Curve Black: 1% instant cashback on up to three pre-selected retailers indefinitely

Curve Metal: 1% instant cashback on up to six pre-selected retailers indefinitely

You can select the retailers you earn cashback at.   The choice includes top brands such as Amazon, Apple, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, M&S, Pret, TFL, Uber, Gett, Spotify and Netflix.  This is the full UK list:

Aldi
Amazon
American Golf
Apple
Arcadia Group
Argos
Asda
Ask Italian
ASOS
B&Q
Belgo
Bella Italia
Booking.com
Boots
BP
Burger King
Burton
Byron
Café Rouge
Caffè Nero
Carpetright
Clarks
Costa Coffee
Cowshed
Debenhams
Deliveroo
Dorothy Perkins
easyJet
EAT
Electric Cinema
Ernest Jones
Everyman
Feelunique
Foodora
Four Seasons Hotels
Gap
Gett
Goldsmiths
H.Samuel
H&M
Halfords
Honest Burgers
House of Fraser
IKEA
Intermarche
itsu
John Lewis
Just Eat
La Poste
Laithwaites Wine
Leon
Leslie Davis
Lidl
Marks & Spencer
Marriott International
McDonald’s
Miss Selfridge
Moss Bros.
Mothercare
Nando’s
National Express
Nero Express
Netflix
New Look
Ocado
Outfit
Papa John’s Pizza
Pizza Express
Planet Organic
Pret a Manger
River Island
Sainsbury’s
Selfridges
Shell
Spafinder
Spotify
Starbucks
T.G.I. Friday’s
Tate
Tesco
TFL
The White Company
The Works
Thorntons
Topman
Topshop
Trainline
Uber
Virgin Experience
Virgin Trains
Wahaca
Waitrose
Wallis
Waterstones
Whole Foods
Wilko
Wyevale Garden Centres
Yo! Sushi
Zara
Zizzi

A quick back-of-the-envelope guestimate is that a Curve Black cardholder should be able to easily earn £5 cashback per month (50% of the monthly fee) and a Curve Metal cardholder £7.50 (60% of the monthly fee if you are on the £150/year option).

This assumes that your top three choices account for £500 per month of spending (let’s say TFL, Pret and Waitrose) and your top six choices account for £750.

It could be a lot more, of course.  If you have a family and are spending £100+ per week at Waitrose, Asda, Tesco, Lidl, M&S, Aldi or Sainsbury’s then you would generate £5 per month just from your top merchant.

This is a fairly good selection although you should do the maths before you select your retailers.  Netflix and Spotify, for example, would yield fairly low cashback despite their recurring transactions: 1% on £9.99 is only 9p a month.  You are likely to spend far more at supermarkets, Amazon or TFL.

If you use a Visa or Mastercard as your primary rewards credit card – which probably means you focus on the Virgin, Lufthansa or IHG Premium products instead of a BA Amex – you should do the maths to see if Curve Cash makes it worthwhile getting a Curve Card.

If nothing else, Curve Cash should be worth at least £10 to you if you apply for the free Curve Blue if you spend £300 per month at your chosen Curve Cash retailers.  After 90 days, however, the free Curve Blue stops giving rewards.

You can find out more about Curve Card in our full recent review here.

PS.  If you applied for Curve before February 2018, you will remain by default on the old Curve Rewards scheme.  This has a smaller list of merchants but a higher cashback rate.  You can switch to Curve Cash by contacting Customer Services.  This may not make sense for everyone, depending on which plan you are on – you should have received an email in the last 48 hours explaining your options.

PPS. Curve will pay you £10 for trying it out if you use our link.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.